Kirishima-Kinko Bay National Park

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Kirishima-Kinko Bay National Park
Mt. Sakurajima is strato-voicano type with a circumference of 52km area 80km2 and is formed of three peaks; Kitadake (North peak) 1,117m Nakadake (Middle peak) 1,060m and Minamidake (South peak) 1,040m above sea level. With Mt. Aso, Mt. Asama and Mt. Mihara, it is numbered among the four biggest volcanoes and is said to be the largest in Japan in its volcanic energy.
Since the down of history, it has continued its repeated eruptions and those in Bunmei Era (1476), Anei Era (1779), Taisho Era (1914), and Showa Era (1946) were violent enough to let the whole world feel as if the heaven and the earth would be rent. Above all the eruption in Taisho Era (1914) is well known throughout the world and it is reported that the volcanic ashes rose so high up into the sky 8,000m and fell as Kamchakka peninsula. In this drastic eruption the result was that torrents of lava gushed out of the eastern and the western sides of Mt. Sakurajima as well as its craters, making a boiling lavafield of 18km2 around it and the quantity of lava amounted to some 3,000 million tons. The stream of lava from the eastern side spread to a width of 400m, consequently filling up channel Seto 72m deep and at last connecting the land with the Osumi peninsula in one continuous stretch of land to make a key traffic route to Osumi district and to Miyazaki prefecture.
The lava field you see below is only one third of the amount gushed out in the eruption and under it were buried three villages, Yokoyama, Koike, and Akamizu, 1,071 house total including public facilities such as elementary school, village office, post office and others. In Sakurajima Island, Sakurajima Daikon (the biggest radish in the world) and many kinds of fruits; Sakurajima tangerine, Japanese medlar peach, large tangerine and others are produced. The chain of the mountain you command far be fore you see dimly at the farthest extremity of the peninsula is peak Kaimon or Mt. Fuji of Satsuma district. And the two peaks you see in the right direction are peak Takachiho-no-mine, known by the mythology of the descent to the earth of the descendants of the Sun-Goddess and peak Karakuni-dake.

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